The Hindu : Batting woes return to haunt Indians

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 21, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Batting woes return to haunt Indians

By Vijay Lokapally

Photo: V.V. Krishnan

India's top-scorer Parthiv Patel in action at the Bellerive Oval on Saturday.

HOBART DEC. 20. Sachin Tendulkar's failure did not trigger an exodus from the Bellerive Oval, for there were not many present at the ground anyway. On a lovely day when the sun warmed up the venue, it sadly could not motivate the Indians to put their mind to a job they have come to accept as a profession.

The batting show by the Indians was disappointing to put it mildly. On a pitch that allowed some seam movement, the Indian batting came a cropper, especially the top order. There was a sense of complacency in the approach and it must have caused concern to the team management.

But the bowlers once again brought the Indians back into the game with L. Balaji producing a superb spell of seam bowling. At the end of the second day, Australia `A', 66 runs ahead in the first innings, was on 57 for three, an overall lead of 123.

The Australian coach John Buchanan has stirred a hornet's nest here with a letter addressed to his players, demanding greater commitment following the loss at Adelaide. His India counterpart John Wright need not resort to similar tactics to get his batsmen on their feet but he would not want this situation to recur over the next two Tests at Melbourne and Sydney.

The Australia `A' attack was inspired and the fast bowlers were prepared to bend their back in search of a place in the national team. They worked up pace, at times digging the ball short needlessly, but the spirit to win the honours kept them going the entire day against a batting line-up that boasted two of the finest batsmen in contemporary cricket _ Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

Of course, the other two _ Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman _ watched from the sidelines.

Mathew Nicholson was the pick of the bowlers, commanding respect from all batsmen. He had support from Shaun Tait, who was nippy, and earned his three wickets, including the first for which he beat Deep Dasgupta by pace.

The cheap dismissals of Tendulkar and Ganguly will be treasured by Damien Wright and Mathew Nicholson. They set up the batsmen into committing errors, especially Ganguly, who guided the ball to gully after having edged the first to the same position. The India skipper had perished in a similar manner in his last knock at Adelaide.

Tendulkar was determined to get his eye in and prepare for the next contest with the same determination that had taken him to the top batting spot in international cricket. His shot selection indeed has not been in keeping with his calibre.

His failures at Adelaide have triggered debates in the cricketing world on his steadily declining form in the recent past. It may be strange for him to experience a bad patch but this one has extended essentially because of his commitment to dominate.

Nothing motivates Tendulkar more than the opportunity to engage himself in a combat with the bowlers. This afternoon he appeared in a mood to indulge in a demonstration of his strokes through sheer timing. He was not going to belt every ball. The idea was to spend time in the middle and get cracking once he had the measure of the pace and bounce of the track.

But when he played the first hook of his innings, he misread the bounce and the top-edge flew in a nice arc for the fielder on the square-leg fence to accept it comfortably. The day was spoilt for the sparse audience even as the Australia `A' team celebrated the departure of a celebrity.

Virender Sehwag enacted his usual role by cracking a few robust strokes before playing from a static position to be caught behind. Sehwag learnt little from the dropped return catch by Damien Wright when he was on 17.

But for the 71-run partnership between Akash Chopra and Parthiv Patel, the Indians would have ended up conceding more than the 66-run lead. The presence of Dasgupta at the other end may have created a competition with Chopra but it fizzled out soon. Dasgupta attempted an across-the-line drive and was trapped plumb. Chopra continued strongly but in the process was guilty of letting go some juicy scoring chances.

Patel showed a very positive attitude by not sacrificing his strokeplay and prospered through some splendid drives in front. The partnership between Chopra and Patel was cut short when they ran to a misfield behind slips. It was Chopra's call and a poor one at that. Patel continued confidently before edging the ball to first slip.

The scores: Australia `A' _ 1st innings: 311 for five decl.

Indian XI _ 1st innings: A. Chopra (run out) 46, S. Ramesh c Wright b Nicholson 4, D. Dasgupta c Wright b Nicholson 21, S. Tendulkar c Rofe b Wright 36, V. Sehwag c Seccombe b Tait 30, S. Ganguly c Hussey b Nicholson 5, P. Patel c Love b Nicholson 49, L. Balaji lbw b Tait 8, M. Kartik (run out) 26, I. Pathan c Wright b Nicholson 11, A. Nehra (not out) 0, Extras (lb-4, nb-5) 9, Total 245.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-51, 3-104, 4-139, 5-149, 6-150, 7-162, 8-233, 9-233.

Australia `A' bowling: M. Nicholson 21.5-13-25-4, D. Wright 16-9-33-1, C. White 13-1-60-0, S. Tait 20-2-85-3, P. Rofe 12-2-38-0.

Australia `A' _ 2nd innings: C. Rogers c Chopra b Balaji 2, M. Hussey c Tendulkar b Pathan 7, M. Love b Balaji 11, B. Hodge (batting) 11, M. Clarke (batting) 22, Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-2) 4, Total (for three wkts.) 57.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-9, 3-28.

Indian XI bowling: I. Pathan 8-1-18-1, L. Balaji 9-2-34-2, M. Kartik 1-0-3-0.

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